Oklahoma Music

7:40 am

Fri December 6, 2013

Flip through the radio stations in your car or visit the mall this month and you’ll probably hear “I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas” a time or two. The song was recorded in 1953 by then 10-year-old Oklahoman Gayla Peevey. The song’s popularity helped raise enough money to adopt Matilda, the Oklahoma City Zoo’s first hippo. KOSU's Nikole Robinson Carroll had a chat with Peevey for the 60th anniversary of the song’s release.